There are loads of skaters here and i am still trying to find a streetskate. There are quite a few small groups of people hacking through traffic and down the main street.

If i am here this summer i will find out. Saint Petersburg is quite flat and has many wide roads. Skating is easily the best way to see the whole town and what an amazing place it is. A little run down but most the building are original. Very beautiful city.

Hey, you're back online, that's excellent. SkaterCoolStyle's the starter of some of the best discussions back on LS.com, and some of the funniest flame wars too. Let's hope you can find a bit more time to come online here some more.

well i have been working hard out here dodging all the dodgy Russian tricks and mind games but I am still alive and kicking. I am home soon and will be bringing back my skates. Saint Petersburg is am amazing place and the best way to see it is on skates without a doubt.

Still a relatively small scene from what I gather, haven't tried it yet but will do this summer.

They appear to charge people to skate some of the routes, you can get membership and pay a bit less.

You must be a member to do any of their classes.

I think I might email them for more info and find out numbers, sponsers etc.

went to the retiro last sunday wehre i met lovely eva and bernardo?
anyway there is an unoficial skate starting 11h30ish (quite later in my case)
it didn't seem too demanding as quite a few different abilities were present and wasn't quick, but be ready for adrenaline rushes, it is a slow sucide skate kindof, no legal status for skaters so you mjix cycle lanes, park, pavement, and roads, busy and quite, the right way an incoming traffic there is a link run by a nice cuban with pics and ifo, go to:

Had a couple of skaters on the old LS.com fourm Marksman and someone else. We had a dozen skaters for St Petes on the Holland Highlights tour last month too, led by a bloke named Oleg. Not much help I know.

Put my skates on for the first time in a year on Sunday. I was skating near the Hermitage Saint Petersburg Russia and i managed to catch onto some Moscow skaters that were heading for a Sunday street skate. They met at around three from SPORTIVNAYA Metro and apparently this was a begginers skate. About 40 started. Thirty kilometres and seven hours later with a stop off at a lake for a swim I arrived home knackered (last 10k were the hardest i have ever done) and just about able to walk. Took three days to recover but I am ready for tonight. Every night through summer there is a large streetskate that leaves the Hermitage square at midnight and goes for hours so I will be there. The guys here are the same as us. Excellent street skaters (they have to be the roads are so bad and the majority do not have brakes) and they love to drink alcohol on the skate. We had at least five beer stops. I have to say it was great to be skating again and i am looking forward to tonight.

SkaterCoolStyle wrote: Took three days to recover but I am ready for tonight. Every night through summer there is a large streetskate that leaves the Hermitage square at midnight and goes for hours so I will be there. .

Hey... I think my friend knows some of these people.. she got roped into doing one, never having skated before, as an alternative to going home (she lost her door keys so couldn't get into her house and figured it a good way to kill time).

It was a really good day. the skate had fast bits but all the skaters seemed to have big reserves of stamina just long steady skating. Apperently tonight though I have just found out it is big celebrations. A lot of people leave school today and they put on big parties everywhere with a lot of live music. I have experienced celebrations here before and they are fine until it gets late and then there are a lot of very drunk people around. It can feel a little uncomfortable so I will see how it ges. If not tonight definately tomorrow night. It is white nights at the moment so it does not get dark. Quite spooky actually.

filou wrote:anybody been skating in colombia, i hear they have a big speed skating scene

I have been out there and the skating scene in the cities like Bogota is big. Speed skating is as serious as football as a sport.

I like the fact in Bogota on Sunday they shut the main north/south road to traffic and it is full of people cycling and skating the route. The only problem is the altitude of 2,900 m can leave you short of breath.

definetly taking my skates then
i know they have world cup skaters and about 10 speed tems in bogota alone, wiht lopps and so on, they start early with schoolkids
do you ahve any contacts, as security there is a big issue, i need to know where to go who to meet

Bogota the places to skate:
sunday morning 7am to 2 pm, carrera 7, carrera 15
othertimes: plazas and square in posh areas, apparently parke simon bolivar, and ciclovias, i did ciclovia of the avenida 30 in rush hour, very high level of pollution
one word of warning, besides the usual security precautions in bogota you have to avoid roads open to traffic in most cases, on the pavement and ciclovias, watch out for pot holes, stolen manhole covers, broken concrete manhole covers, missing bits of asphalt etc,
when trnasitioning from ciclovias and pavements to roads (such as at road crossings)watch out for the huge slope, pavemnt can be over 50 cm above the street level (to keep cars off the pavements) and their is usually nothing tohold on to a crossings unlike in london where u usually have a hlpfull streetlight or red ligth pole.
another word of caution is that on the ciclovias bits of tarmac can be missing for random reasons, so keep you eyes open
also again remeber manholes can have broke n or missing covers